Spend 1h and 100 CZK / 4 EUR by bus and drive to Plzen to visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery, see details on prazdrojvisit.cz – the first beer of Pilsner type was made here – you can spend a good day in Plzen on various beer discovery tours.

„Pivo z tanku“ – tank beer – high consumption and modern technology allows to discard beer delivery and storage in barrels as well as any preservation tricks. Beer is hauled from the breweries in tank trucks (as e.g. gasoline) and fills the restaurant’s 500-600l containers. The steel container’s inside is fitted with a plastic bag that completely seals the beer off from oxygen and preserves it. Pilsner Urquell was the first to introduce this and still is the major supplier offering „the shortest journey of the beer„. You get to taste the freshest beer that might be just a few hours out of the brewing process as big places empty their 600 litre containers in a day.

taps in Zlý časy – our favourite, photo by Zlycasy.eu

Microbreweries and tapped variety – Prague boasts plenty of pubs where you can sample from 5 to 30 micro-brewery-beers fresh from tap. They are supplied by the about 250 microbreweries of which the majority was opened or revived in the last years. Very common are Ale’s but you can find anything from coffee- over nettle- to smoked beers.

List of beer places – work in progress, right now the map is far more complete

Kolčavka craft brewery in Praha – Libeň: Newly opened in 2014, a non-smoking and family friendly brewery in a residential neighborhood off the tourist map. website: pivovarnadkolcavkou.cz

Zlý Časy – pub with 15 microbrewery beers on tap: Far off the tourist map but easy to reach. Always changing variety of beers mostly from Czech Republic but 2-3 from abroad, to me this is a very authentic pub. website: zlycasy.eu

Minipivovar Beznoska in Praha – Prosek: Brewery opened 2013 with a non-smoking restaurant in a residential neighbourhood. website: skolicka.cz

Pivovar Třebonice – nice to actually get out of the center. Get the the last subway stop „Zlicin“ and walk 20-40min to the village. Great beer food and friendly staff come on top of the beer experience. Also good to connect with a bike trip pivovartrebonice.com